Japanese symbol for “counterproductive”

非生産的

ひせいさんてき

Romaji: hiseisanteki

unproductive; counterproductive

In Japanese, counterproductive is 非生産的, read ひせいさんてき (hiseisanteki).

Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.

Meanings

adj-na unproductive; counterproductive

Kanji and stroke order

非

un-, mistake, negative

on: ヒ
kun: あら.ず

8 strokes · JLPT 2

生

life, genuine, birth

on: セイ、ショウ
kun: い.きる、い.かす、い.ける、う.まれる

5 strokes · JLPT 4

産

products, bear, give birth

on: サン
kun: う.む、う.まれる、うぶ-、む.す

11 strokes · JLPT 3

的

bull's eye, mark, target

on: テキ
kun: まと

8 strokes · JLPT 2

Related words

Words that share a kanji.

Word	Reading	Meaning
非常	ひじょう hijou	emergency
是非	ぜひ zehi	certainly; without fail
非難	ひなん hinan	criticism; blame; censure
非公式	ひこうしき hikoushiki	informal; unofficial
非公開	ひこうかい hikoukai	private; non-public; secret
非行	ひこう hikou	delinquency; misconduct
生活	せいかつ seikatsu	life; living
先生	せんせい sensei	teacher; instructor; master
生産	せいさん seisan	production; manufacture
目的	もくてき mokuteki	purpose; goal; aim

Data: JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.